Roskill estimates that rechargeable batteries accounted for 27% of global lithium consumption in 2012, up from 15% in 2007 and 8% in 2002. This end-use was responsible for 44% of the net increase in lithium consumption over the last ten years, and 70% over the last five years. In the base-case growth scenario it is expected to contribute 75% of the growth in forecast demand to 2017, when total demand for lithium is expected to reach slightly over 238,000t lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).

Other end-uses, including glass-ceramics, greases and polymers, have also shown high rates of growth, but are predicted to moderate over the next five years as emerging economy growth slows. The lithium industry is therefore becoming more reliant on rechargeable batteries to sustain high rates of future demand growth. In addition, in the period to 2017 Roskill forecasts that the main market driver for lithium-ion batteries will gradually switch from portable consumer electronics to electric vehicles, especially hybrid variants.

Reflecting the concentration of lithium-ion battery manufacturers and associated cathode material producers in China, Japan and South Korea, the East Asia region has become an increasingly important consumer of lithium products over the last decade. In 2012, East Asia accounted for 60% of total global consumption with Europe accounting for a further 24% and North America 9%.

Roskill’s analysis suggests that the price of technical-grade lithium carbonate, the main product produced and consumed in the lithium market, recovered some of its global economic downturn losses as the market tightened in 2012, averaging US$5,300/t CIF, up 15% from 2010. This is below the 2007 peak of US$6,500/t, but well above the US$2,000-3,000/t levels seen in the early 2000s.

Lithium extraction, which totalled over 168,000t LCE in 2012, is undertaken predominately in Australia, Chile, Argentina and China, with roughly half of lithium output from hard rock sources and half from brine. Production is dominated by Talison Lithium in Australia, SQM and Rockwood Lithium in Chile, and FMC in Argentina. Just over two-thirds of lithium minerals extracted in Australia are processed into downstream chemical products in China, where producers such as Tianqi Lithium (who recently acquired Talison to secure a captive supply of mineral feedstock) operate mineral conversion plants.

Galaxy Resources commissioned a new 17,000tpy LCE mineral conversion plant in China in 2012. Canada Lithium is in the process of commissioning a 20,000tpy LCE plant in Quebec and several existing Chinese mineral conversion plants are also expanding capacity. FMC has increased brine-based processing capacity by a third in Argentina, while nearby Orocobre is also constructing a new brine-based operation due to be completed in 2014. In addition, Rockwood Lithium plans to complete a 20,000tpy LCE expansion in Chile in 2014. Combined, this additional capacity totals just under 100,000tpy LCE, enough to meet forecast demand to 2017.

As the opening of new and expanded capacity is concentrated over the next two years, Roskill forecasts that the lithium market could witness increased competition and supply-side pressure on pricing, with prices for technical-grade lithium carbonate potentially falling back to around US$5,000/t CIF in 2014.

The report contains 426 pages, 245 tables and 99 figures. It provides a detailed review of the industry, with subsections on the activities of the leading producing companies. It also analyses consumption, trade and prices.

Table of Contents

Page

1. Summary 1

2. Lithium Mineralogy, Occurrences and Reserves 10

2.1 Occurrence of lithium 10

2.1.1 Lithium minerals 10

2.1.2 Lithium clays 12

2.1.3 Lithium brines 12

2.2 Lithium reserves 14

3. Lithium mining and processing 16

3.1 Extraction and processing of lithium brines 17

3.1.1 Other methods of brine extraction 20

3.2 Mining and processing of lithium minerals 21

3.3 Processing lithium mineral concentrates to lithium compounds 23

3.4 Processing lithium bearing clays into lithium compounds 26

3.5 Lithium compounds and chemicals 27

3.6 Production costs 30

4. Production of lithium 34

4.1 Lithium production by source 35

4.1.1 Production of Lithium Minerals 37

4.1.2 Production from Lithium Brines 39

4.1.3 Production of lithium compounds from mineral conversion 41

4.1.4 Production of downstream lithium chemicals 43

4.2 Outlook for production capacity of lithium to 2017 44

4.2.1 Outlook for production capacity of lithium minerals 45

4.2.2 Outlook for lithium production capacity from brines 48

4.2.3 Outlook on lithium compound production from mineral conversion 51

The 1st dedicated exhibition for the PV and solar industries of the MENA region 3–5 September 2013

The US $7.6 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has given the go-ahead to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia to proceed with an updated version of a sweeping plan to create an unprecedented 1,120 megawatts (MW) of energy from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) for the region. The plan will receive US $660 million from the CIF’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and is expected to leverage nearly US $5 billion from other donors and private financing.

The plan, first endorsed by the CIF in 2009, has undergone post-Arab Spring changes by each country to reflect the political and economic conditions in the region and to build on emerging lessons from the plan’s first project now underway – the Ouarzazate I 160 MW plant in Morocco.

The revised plan accepted on 10 May by the CIF governing body provides a realignment of projects in the pipeline based on each country’s reassessed needs; focuses on well-performing projects as a stronger measure of the plan’s positive impact; and expands the plan’s horizons to also include Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic (CPV) technologies and business models including public sector, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and independent power producers (IPPs). The original plan projected a total of 895 MW of power, but with the revision the region now expects to achieve 1.12 GW, making it the most ambitious CSP program in the world. The countries have also agreed to request a smaller funding envelope from the original US $750 million to US $660 million including currently funded projects.

“The changes suggested by the countries in the plan make it a more viable and flexible plan which takes into account the realities each of these countries face,” stated Mafalda Duarte, AfDB coordinator for the Bank’s CIF program. “We can all look to this revised plan as both a signal of hope for the forward economic and social movement in the region built on renewable energy, and a more realistic blueprint for the evolution of renewables as a potent engine of power globally.”

The plan is also adding a technical assistance (TA) component to complement efforts at the project level and establish a critical platform for knowledge exchange and increase private sector involvement and regional integration.

President Mustapha Bakkoury of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), who presented the revised plan to the governing body, emphasized to the CIF that, “We are looking forward to seeing more involvement by this kind of financing in the coming years, and hope it will help continue the dynamism of the solar power sector and its competitiveness with wind and other energy sources, including fossil fuels.”

CTF allocations in the revised plan are:

• Morocco: CTF US $218M for 300 MW (Ouarzazate II)

• Egypt: CTF US $123M for 100 MW (Kom Ombo)

• Tunisia: CTFUS $62M for 50 MW (Akarit) (may increase to 100)

• Jordan: CTF US $50M for up to 100 MW including CPV

• Technical assistance: CTF US $10M

“Everyone is turning to the Middle East for solar now” says Derek Burston, exhibition director, GulfSol 2013 (3-5 September), “as it’s realised that although MENA has been slower out of the blocks, it is now gathering momentum and is going to become one of the most important generating regions for solar power in the next 2-3 years.

This is why the dedicated approach of GulfSol 2013 – the first solar only renewable exhibition to take place in the region – has caught the imagination of the industry” he adds.

AfDB/World Bank-supported plan to generate more than a gigawatt of power

About the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

Established in 2008 as one of the largest fast-tracked climate financing instruments in the world, the US $7.6 billion CIF provides developing countries with grants, concessional loans, risk mitigation instruments, and equity that leverage significant financing from the private sector, multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other sources. Five MDBs – the African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and World Bank Group (WBG) – implement CIF-funded projects and programs.

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The US $7.6 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF) today gave the go-ahead to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia to proceed with an updated version of a sweeping plan to create an unprecedented 1,120 megawatts (MW) of energy from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) for the region. The plan will receive US $660 million from the CIF’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and is expected to leverage nearly US $5 billion from other donors and private financing.

The plan, first endorsed by the CIF in 2009, has undergone post-Arab Spring changes by each country to reflect the political and economic conditions in the region and to build on emerging lessons from the plan’s first project now underway – the Ouarzazate I 160 MW plant in Morocco.

The revised plan accepted today by the CIF governing body provides a realignment of projects in the pipeline based on each country’s reassessed needs; focuses on well-performing projects as a stronger measure of the plan’s positive impact; and expands the plan’s horizons to also include Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic (CPV) technologies and business models including public sector, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and independent power producers (IPPs). The original plan projected a total of 895 MW of power, but with the revision the region now expects to achieve 1.12 GW, making it the most ambitious CSP program in the world. The countries have also agreed to request a smaller funding envelope from the original US $750 million to US $660 million including currently funded projects.

“The changes suggested by the countries in the plan make it a more viable and flexible plan which takes into account the realities each of these countries face,” stated Mafalda Duarte, AfDB coordinator for the Bank’s CIF program. “We can all look to this revised plan as both a signal of hope for the forward economic and social movement in the region built on renewable energy, and a more realistic blueprint for the evolution of renewables as a potent engine of power globally.”

The plan is also adding a technical assistance (TA) component to complement efforts at the project level and establish a critical platform for knowledge exchange and increase private sector involvement and regional integration.

President Mustapha Bakkoury of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), who presented the revised plan to the governing body, emphasized to the CIF that, “We are looking forward to seeing more involvement by this kind of financing in the coming years, and hope it will help continue the dynamism of the solar power sector and its competitiveness with wind and other energy sources, including fossil fuels.”

CTF allocations in the revised plan are:

• Morocco: CTF US $218M for 300 MW (Ouarzazate II)

• Egypt: CTF US $123M for 100 MW (Kom Ombo)

• Tunisia: CTFUS $62M for 50 MW (Akarit) (may increase to 100)

• Jordan: CTF US $50M for up to 100 MW including CPV

• Technical assistance: CTF US $10M

Background

In 2009, recognizing their region’s enormous potential for tapping into CSP, they had agreed on an unprecedented Investment Plan for regional CSP development to generate 1 Gigawatt (GW) power and triple worldwide capacity, and had received a commitment for US $750 million by the CIF’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The Investment Plan was designed around deployment of about 10-12 commercial scale power plants to be constructed over a three- to five-year time frame. Now, in light of subsequent political and technological developments in the region, the countries and their partners have come together again to update and revise the Plan to better suit their countries’ current circumstances and consider advances in solar technology.

A document produced in Tunis, Tunisia reveals that the African Development Bank’s Financing Change: The AfDB and CIF for a Climate-Smart Africa is the Bank’s second semi-annual report on its
work to implement the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in Africa, covering July-December 2012.

Also revealed in that the projects will create more than a million new electricity connections in Africa with AfDB and CIF support.

In addition, the report showcases expected results from projects underway in Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger and South Africa backed by US $420 million CIF funding and US $1.1 billion of the Bank’s own funding.

“Through the eight projects under implementation, it is expected that 6.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided every year, 1.3 million households and businesses will get new access to power, nearly 42,000 hectares of land will be newly dedicated to climate-resilient activities, and 150,000 farmers will gain access to climate information, including 50,000 women farmers and 3,000 villages,” the company stated on their website.

“A publication of the African Development Bank’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department (ONEC), the report features a review of the Bank’s support to 17 African countries through its CIF portfolio, which is channeling US $1 billion – more than a third of all CIF investment in Africa – to Africa, with the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department leading the institutional charge.”

Furthermore,” the report also highlights the work underway with the AfDB and other CIF partners and stakeholders to continue improving the CIF’s effectiveness – exploring new tools and mechanisms, enhancing and simplifying the approach to measuring results, and brokering climate knowledge from the national to the global stage.”

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) was established in 2008 as one of the largest fast-tracked climate financing instruments in the world, the US $7.6 billion CIF provides developing countries with grants, concessional loans, risk mitigation instruments, and equity that leverage significant financing from the private sector, multilateral development banks, (MDBs) and other sources.

Five MDBs – the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and World Bank Group (WBG) – implement CIF-funded projects and programs.

More information on the African Development Bank and the Climate Investment Funds can be found here: http://bit.ly/XMe1gc.

WASHINGTON, February 22, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) (http://www.afdb.org) has announced an agreement to provide Nigeria with US $50 million to support an African Development Bank-supported program of financial intermediation for renewable energy and energy efficiency through local banks, as part of the country’s national Investment Plan endorsed by the CIF in 2010. The money, being provided under the CIF’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF), is designated to stimulate alternative and efficient ways to generate electricity and to reduce dependence on energy sources which contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

The funding will be used to stimulate investment in downstream opportunities that would lead to greater energy efficiency through a range of technologies, including industrial energy efficiency investments, renewable energy, renewable-based hybrid systems, and cleaner fuels and combustion processes.

The CTF money will complement support provided through the AfDB private sector window, to help the country address energy efficiency in critical sectors such as power, agribusiness, transport, telecommunications, and education, by targeting local financial institutions to invest and support the shifts to clean, efficient and affordable energy in the sectors.

The work to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewables is in line with the country’s national policy framework designed to lead the country to an ambitious set of energy goals, including rural energy scale-up and actions to ensure energy efficiency through a combination of regulations and incentives at the national scale.

About the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

Established in 2008 as one of the largest fast-tracked climate financing instruments in the world, the US $7.6 billion CIF provides developing countries with grants, concessional loans, risk mitigation instruments, and equity that leverage significant financing from the private sector, multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other sources. Five MDBs – the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and World Bank Group (WBG) – implement CIF-funded projects and programs.

TUNIS, Tunisia, February 20, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The African Development Bank’s Financing Change: The AfDB (http://www.afdb.org) and CIF for a Climate-Smart Africa is the Bank’s second semi-annual report on its work to implement the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in Africa, covering July-December 2012 and can be found here: http://bit.ly/XMe1gc.

The report showcases expected results from projects underway in Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger and South Africa backed by US $420 million CIF funding and US $1.1 billion of the Bank’s own funding. Through the eight projects under implementation, it is expected that 6.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided every year, 1.3 million households and businesses will get new access to power, nearly 42,000 hectares of land will be newly dedicated to climate-resilient activities, and 150,000 farmers will gain access to climate information, including 50,000 women farmers and 3,000 villages.

A publication of the African Development Bank’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department (ONEC), the report features a review of the Bank’s support to 17 African countries through its CIF portfolio, which is channeling US $1 billion – more than a third of all CIF investment in Africa – to Africa, with the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department leading the institutional charge.

The report also highlights the work underway with the AfDB and other CIF partners and stakeholders to continue improving the CIF’s effectiveness – exploring new tools and mechanisms, enhancing and simplifying the approach to measuring results, and brokering climate knowledge from the national to the global stage.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank.

About the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

Established in 2008 as one of the largest fast-tracked climate financing instruments in the world, the US $7.6 billion CIF provides developing countries with grants, concessional loans, risk mitigation instruments, and equity that leverage significant financing from the private sector, multilateral development banks, (MDBs) and other sources. Five MDBs – the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and World Bank Group (WBG) – implement CIF-funded projects and programs.